Make it Modern

Sans-serif fonts have a niche for taking any product or design and making it appear clean, bold, and modern. Who would find reading directions on a sign eye popping if it was written in a serif font? Take a look for yourself how the typography of a design can quickly change to a modern look and feel simply by using a sans-serif.

Arts&Crafts Boys and Girls

You want beauty, strength, and a personal touch in your poster or design? Use a handmade sans-serif or create one almost out of anything. Whether you draw it out by hand to achieve the same boldness with a bit of imperfection, or you cut things up to create the same effect. Give your inner kindergarten art class child a chance.

Classifying Typefaces

Classifying typefaces makes it much easier for us to decide what to use on a daily basis. Particularly I’ve found the Periodic Table of Typefaces to be most helpful. Using it as a desktop background was very helpful to me, every time I looked at my desktop I was looking at type and studying.

These next posters by Martin Plonka are all about Serif and Sans-serif classification. Besides being a beautiful set, I could see them being very useful in classrooms to help students understand the categories of type as well as seeing examples of the type in application. These posters are somewhat small but Martin covers these categories:

• Slab Serif
• Serif Old Style
• Serif Transitional
• Serif Modern
• Sans Humanist
• Sans (Neo)Grotesque
• Sans Geometric

Who Needs A Script Font To Look Retro?

Classic Retro ads and signs often use script or display fonts, but who says you can't use a modern sans-serif to make something look retro or vintage? 


Why not try some of these sans-serif fonts:

Futura: The Appearance of Efficiency and Forwardness

Futura after 80 years still is considered one of the most popular sans-serif fonts, created by Paul Renner between 1927 and 1930. The geometrical, clean symmetrical design inspired by the Bauhaus movement is very appealing to many types of commercial uses. Often used for body text, as well as headline fonts, Futura is versatile, readable and distinctive.


some fun facts...
In 1969 the Apollo 11 astronauts left a commemorative plaque on the moon. Its text was set in Futura.
Back in the ’90s, people got so sick of Futura Extra Bold Condensed that there was a movement called ‘Art Directors Against Futura Extra Bold Condensed’.

Hoefler and Frere-Jones

Since 1989, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones have helped some of the world's foremost publications, corporations, and institutions develop their unique voice through typography. Their body of work includes some of the world's most famous designs, typefaces marked by both high performance and high style.

Above are some beautiful sans serif fonts they have created including Knockout, Tungsten, and Gotham